| from Berrett-Koehler's "At Work"
Publication
Lisa Kimball, Douglass Carmichael Open Space need not be limited to real-time, in-person interactions. The worldwide web of interconnected computers and information resources called the Internet is the hottest technology story in decades. But the web surfing and on-line publishing that get all the attention in the media do not represent the most powerful quality of cyberspace: its capacity to provide a place where teams and other groups of people can go to engage in conversation. Many organizations are now using software designed allow them to hold electronic meetings through the Internet. This does not insure, however, that the meeting reflects any new ideas about group process. To realize the ftih potential of cyberspace, "groupware" applications must do a lot more than simply apply old thinking about relationships and work to a new environment. The Meta Network, created in 1983, was one of the earliest on-line communities. Since then, it has provided an on-line environment for purposeful discussions among individuals, teams, and members of whole organizations. The Meta Network is hosted by Metasystems Design Group (MDG), a consulting firm that works with client-partners who want to integrate a holistic approach to organization development with appropriate technologies. A key feature of MDG's work and of The Meta Network is a focus on group process and using technology to support relationships rather than just to provide access to information. There has been a natural synergy between exploring processes like Open Space and designing humanistic on-line environments. On-Line in Open Space At The Meta Network, we've been exploring ways to take advantage of
features of web-based conferencing to design on-line meetings based on
principles of Open Space. For example, we were approached by a client who
wanted to do future scenarios with the top 200 officers of an $8-billion
energy company. They had previously done scenarios with the top 15 officers
but felt that, to make a real difference, the investigation had to go deeper
and involve more people. It wasn't feasible to convene an all-hands meeting,
and they were in a hurry. So we decided to use principles of Open Space
to design an electronic environment that would
As in a face-to-face Open Space meeting, anyone can convene a new topic in the on-line conference. This is done by posting an item just as participants post topics on a "marketplace" wall during conventional Open Space events. When participants sign into the conference, they are notified of any items that have been added since the last time they logged on. Participants can always see a current list of all the topics and choose to enter and participate in the conversations that interest them. The greater flexibility of time and space on line means that it's possible to participate actively in all the sessions. Conversations continue as long as there is energy around a topic. And when they're over, they're over- sometimes in a matter of hours or days and sometimes weeks or months. Having this Open Space available at all times has profound implications for an organization. For example, when one of the energy company vice presidents met another vice president in the hall the day before the on-line Open Space began, he asked, "How's the weather out at your place?" Three weeks later, when the same person bumped into a director, he said, "Hey, good seeing you. What did you think of that stuff Mary put on line last night?" Having a virtual Open Space available all of the time changed the nature of conversation almost immediately. As one of the participants put it, "For the first time I know what's in the minds of my colleagues on a day-to-day basis." Free and open discussion in the on-line conference brings out the generosity and concern of the participants. We've found that the group often moves to a deeper sense of value and a higher sense of purpose. The resulting conversation gets more strategic along a broader, more penetrating agenda. The on-line Open Space conference also provides a way to bring
critical issues to the attention of the whole. Two days after we opened
the conference for the energy company, a pipeline burst in a rural area
and caused considerable environmental damage. Typically, when this kind
of thing happens, a small group at the top is charged with handling the
problem and there is no opportunity for dialogue within the organization.
This time, one of the Open Space participants posted a topic addressing
the situation on the electronic wall. Over the next two days we had 200
people talking about why the mishap occurred, how the pipe was made, what
Models for Meeting in Cyberspace There are at least three models for using Open Space principles to design experiences for groups in cyberspace. Virtual Open Space Events. In the first model, a virtual Open Space is created within the framework of an existing organizational endeavor, such as the example of the energy company above. In this model, a kind of contrapuntal dynamic emerges between what is happening on line and what is happening in face-to-face interactions. In a traditional organization it is typically easier to apply Open Space principles to the on-line conversations than to staff meetings. We've found, however, that experience with Open Space in cyberspace carries over into the face-to-face environment as participants become impatient with more limiting meeting processes. Support for Face-to-Face Open Space Events. Another model is to create Open Space in cyberspace to support and document a face-to-face Open Space gathering. On-line conferences are created to allow participants to upload reports from sessions, comment on reports from previous sessions, and add new thoughts stimulated by the reports. For example, a conference on Access and Travel Management sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service engaged over 200 participants in Open Space for four days. The purpose of the conference was to bring a diverse group of people with different interests together to consider the issues, options, and opportunities for access to and travel in the National Forests. Participants entered more than 70 reports into the on-line conference, resulting in a compendium of 200-plus pages of material that was duplicated overnight so that everyone could take a copy. This document provided a touchstone for participants to use to remind them of the Open Space discussions and ideas for ongoing work. In some cases, this process can be a way to link groups gathered in different geographic locations or permit people who are not at the gathering to learn what's happening and make comments. However, we've learned that documentation of the gathering -both on-line and in print- is rarely useful to nonparticipants unless they have the opportunity to ask questions and tease out ideas further. The power of Open Space lies more in the experience of the participants than in the information produced. Two aspects of the reports that do seem useful are table of contents, which shows the range of topics and ideas generated by the group, and captured highlights of key questions and dilemmas. Therefore, it's ideal if the on-line conference associated with the event stays open for at least a few weeks after the event has concluded. This also provides a way for participants to add more thoughts to the compendium as they have time to reflect on their experience at the gathering. Free-Flowing Virtual Open Space. A third model is to create an
on-line Open Space for a group that has no face-to-face interaction at
all. This is challenging because in cyberspace many people experience ongoing
message exchanges that are loose and unfocused, don't seem to start at
any particular time, and often don't seem to reach closure. A free-flowing
exchange won't have the qualities of Open Space unless it is designed with
the basic principles in mind. For example, if you cannot have an opening
circle with the group in physical space, you need to create the virtual
equivalent of the ritual of opening the space by walking the circle and
making eye contact with each participant. If the group doesn't start synchronously,
will individuals who come in later really feel that the space is "open"
for them to convene new topics? One of the most powerful parts of an Open
Space gathering is the closing ritual. Although it is possible for groups
to continue indefinitely in cyberspace, it may be more effective to introduce
the notion of closure as an important aspect of the cycle of opening and
closing. These and all other critical aspects of Open Space need to be
thought through for successful transferral to the on-line environment.
We are looking forward to having a chance to experiment with alternative
approaches.
Experience with Open Space in cyberspace carries over into the face-to-face
environment as participants become impatient with more limiting meeting
processes.
Our move to meet in cyberspace has an amazing freedom. Those of us who
have been attracted to Open Space tend to resonate with the democratizing
and passion-building openness that characterizes cyberspace. There we can
transcend the hierarchies, dogmas, and correctness of our old organizational
structures and communications pattems-features that hamper our freedom
to take on many roles and responsibilities. Much more experimentation is
needed to discover how to transfer to cyberspace the strategies we've used
to make the Open Space principles operational in face-to-face meetings.
But we think there is great potential!
Lisa Kimball (lisa@tmn.com) and Douglass
Carmichael (doug@tmn.com) are
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